The steephead ravine that forms Gold Head Branch is a riot of green, with deep green needle palms and ferns of every shape and size.
Beneath them, water trickles, merges, and flows downstream, carving sinuous paths through the lush green understory.
Lush vegetation surrounds the start of Gold Head BranchAbove is a well-knit canopy of native trees, from hickory and sweetgum to longleaf pine and live oak.
While a long series of ramps and staircases provides more direct access to the Ravine Trail, a more relaxed route is to follow the Ridge Trail.
Overlaid by the orange-blazed Florida Trail, it clings to the north wall of Gold Head, above the canopy below in places.
To afford you more than a quarter mile walk in and out of the ravine, this hike starts at the Mill Site Parking Area instead of using the stairs.
Trail junction at the bottom of the ravine at the stairsResources
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Overview
Location: Keystone Heights
Length: 2.1 mile round trip and loop
Trailhead: 29.831811, -81.946547
Address: 6239 SR 21, Keystone Heights
Fees: $4-5 per vehicle
Restroom: At the day use area
Land Manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 352-262-8129
Open 8 AM until sunset daily. Leashed pets welcome except on swimming beach.
Directions
From its intersection with SR 100 in downtown Keystone Heights, drive SR 21 north 6 miles to the state park entrance station. Follow the gently winding park entrance road past the parking area at the ravine to the day use area, taking the one-way road to sweep around past the campground to the Mill Site Parking Area.
Hike
Heading downhill from the parking area, pass a junction with the Loblolly Trail, which connects back to the Florida Trail close to the day use area.
Around 1900, there was a sawmill, cotton gin, and grist mill at this spot on the stream.
A sturdy bridge crosses Gold Head Branch. Cross it and turn left to follow the Ridge Trail / Florida Trail north.
Signage leads the wayPass beneath high bush blueberries and sparkleberries in an oak hammock where laurel oak predominates. Interpretive markers add to your understanding of the flora.
Rising to the edge of the pine flatwoods, the Ridge Trail passes under stringers of old-man’s beard on the live oaks.
The ravine becomes increasingly deeper and broader, with many tall Southern magnolia obvious within it. A bench provides a resting spot.
Tall pines indicate the other side of the broad ravineAt the trail junction with a prominent Florida Trail sign, the Florida Trail turns right to head towards the Devils Washbasin, and the Ravine Trail continues straight.
Walk beneath a bower of American holly, hickory, and dogwood. The well worn path soon turns left to start a steep descent into the gorge.
The path is well wornWalking along a wall of saw palmetto beneath the elms and tall Southern magnolia, a briskly flowing clear sand-bottomed stream is obvious through the woods.
Cross it on a bridge at 1 mile. The trail turns right and continues through a profusion of needle palms.
Needle palms thrive in the bottom of the ravinePass the staircase that leads up to the ravine parking area and continue straight ahead for the gem of this hike, the Fern Loop.
This tail of the Ravine Trail takes about 15 minutes to walk, immersing you in a wonderland of ferns, needle palms, and sparkling water trickling out of the steephead slopes.
Tiny rivulets form sand-bottomed streams that come together to create Gold Head Branch.
The stream broadens as more springs feed it from side channelsAll too soon, the loop is over and you return to the three-way junction of trails where the staircase comes down from above.
Unless you’d like to ascend it for the physical challenge, it’s a longer way back by road to the Mill Site Parking Area than it is by trail.
The switchbacked ramps and stairs into the ravine as seen from the bottomContinue past it and turn to cross the bridge over Gold Head Branch. The steep ascent begins soon after.
Curving as it nears the top of the ravine, the trail intersects with the Florida Trail. Continue straight ahead, the dropoff of the ravine on your right.
Junction of trails at the top of the ravineIt’s fascinating how the ravine is obviously broader in its middle, although the bottom can’t be seen for all the trees in it.
Take the time to notice the vegetation more closely on the return, with the sandhills especially colorful in the fall months.
A dash of fall color from a sumacBy 2 miles, reach the trail junction of the Florida Trail, Ridge Trail, and Loblolly Trail. The bridge is downhill to your right.
Cross the bridge and continue uphill past the mill site to the parking area to complete this 2.1 mile hike.
Cross the bridge to return to the trailheadTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park
Gold Head Branch State Park One of Florida's oldest state parks and notable for its Civilian Conservation Corps architecture, Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park offers a lesson in Florida topography.Slideshow
See our photos from this park
More Adventures
More to explore while at the park
Florida Trail, Gold Head Branch Following high ground above Devils Washbasin and Gold Head Ravine, the oldest section of the Florida Trail at Gold Head Branch State Park makes for a pleasant six-mile round trip.
Florida Trail, Camp Blanding Explore the high ground of Keystone Heights through sandhills and scrub on undulating terrain across forests managed by the Florida National Guard at Camp Blanding. 
Palatka-Lake Butler Trail With a corridor spanning nearly 50 miles through North Florida, the Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail provides paved trail for riders and an unpaved corridor used by the Florida Trail
Belmore State Forest Crossing a landscape of remarkably resilient trees in a desert-like environment, the Satsuma Trail showcases the adaptability of certain species native to Florida.
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